1) To D.J Quigley for locating and sending me an out of print copy of Robert Axelrod’s The Evolution of Cooperation, which Don notes takes game theory and, by way of analogy, carves out a paradigm shift for political relevance. D.J. notes that the book was the basis for the bulk of his post-graduate work in fields ranging from behavioral analysis and ethology to law—particularly anti-trust enforcement.
So I’m eager to give it a read as soon as I can free up some time.
2) To “Shinji Nishizono,” for the DVDs Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2, and My Neighbor Totoro (for li’l S*tch). I’ve heard so much about the Ghost in the Shell that it’s about time I checked it out. No excuses now.
Enjoy your manga!
“Ghost” isn’t bad. I liked the “Stand Alone Complex” TV series better, though.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442800/
SB: freedom
ding dong
Totoro is a great kids’ movie. Nice combination of realism and fantasy, seriousness and light-heartedness. My two love it.
Ghost in the Shell is pretty good. I have yet to watch the 2nd, sitting on my shelf now. But the two series Stand Alone Complex and S.A.C. 2nd Gig are probably better if only because they don’t spend quite as much time delving into the existentialist babble that you find in some of the better (?) anime. Much more political/suspense-based plotlines rather than the psycho-motivational stuff in the first movie.
Find the second series being broacast on adult swim (cartoon network, late). They’re in the middle of the second series at the moment though, but a single episode is a nice taste.
One of the best parts of the franchise is the quality of the dubs. “Laughing Man fansubs” produced subtitled editions of the series available via bit torrent. But the dubs are very well done, just like the movies. It’s nice watching the same episodes both ways.
i remember reading ghost in the shell in college, it made my brain hurt. the movie cut so much of the “existential babble” but i’ve slept a lot since coming in contact with either one, so i’m probably just making crap up.
some day soon hopefully i’ll have evenings again and can fire up the netflix account and catch up on all this.
You are most welcome, Jeff-san.
I thought about getting you MPD Psycho, but i think you need to work up to Miike.
His skull furniture is even more bizarre than yours.
You’ll probably enjoy Totoro at least as much as your little one. Be warned, though, you may need to shield your eyes from the cuteness overload.
TW “son”: are these things keyed to the friggin’ posts?
Axelrod’s book is pretty good. I’d also recommend Kaufman’s At Home in the Universe.
Eric Beinhocker is coming out with a new book called The Origins of Wealth, which looks to be interesting.
For a little more in-depth examinations of complexity science, Philip Mirowski is very good. He also has a book on the connection between economics and cybernetics, which is reinvigorating the field, in my opinion (i.e., the science of decision-making, only in a synthetic form).
Of course, the economic benefits of cooperation over aggressive force is pretty much what the entire Austrian school of economics has been studying and explaining for about 100 years. The neo-classicist economists have refused to accept any of it, and the politicians (eager to justify their existence) naturally tend to validate the neo-classicists. Go figure. They rationalize their power and market-interference.
The field of evolutionary economics was derailed in its infancy by the fool Joseph Schumpter, and has never really recovered. But now that these same ideas are being expressed in mathematical and evolutionary biological terms, everyone is on the whole “complexity economics” bandwagon. Mises said all of this about 50 years ago.
All of these modes of inquiry lead to the inevitable conclusion that free markets produce spectacular, broad-based economic success. The problem is that academic establishment and the politicians don’t want to accept this simple truth.
if you’re up for the maths, Maynard-Smith is the best. Evolution and the Theory of Games.
Jeff, after you finish The Evolution of Cooperation, you will be in a good state of mind for Non-Zero by Robert Wright.